


It's (Not) Okay

by dreaminqs



Category: Borderlands
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-06-10 02:06:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6933646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreaminqs/pseuds/dreaminqs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fiona got shot pretty badly. She's in a lot of pain and, honestly, she doesn't think she's going to survive. Rhys wants to believe that she'll live--she's the love of his life and he honestly doesn't think he could be happy without her. Rhys insists that she's okay--Fiona insists that she's not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Truth

**Author's Note:**

> also on my wattpad (@dreaminqs) and my tumblr (@rhysandfiona)

Fiona's eyes were wide open as the bandits ran off. She had been shot multiple times in the stomach and it was incredibly painful. Tears stung the corners of her eyes as a hand flew to her stomach to apply pressure to the bullet wounds. Once she noticed that nobody else was around, she let her tears stream down her face--she didn't want her friends to see her crying, it's a sign of weakness.

"Fi!" The familiar voice called her nickname, a lanky figure running towards her. He quickly kneeled down next to her, his brown eye and topaz eyes widened. "Oh my god, Fi, what happened?" The figure, Fiona now identified as Rhys, asked her, nothing but worry in his voice.

"Um, some bandits got me. I... I don't think I'm gonna make it." Fiona responded as she coughed, causing her to wince in pain. "Yeah, it's, uh, it's pretty bad. I'd be pretty damn lucky to survive this." She smiled weakly at her boyfriend, frowning quickly as she noticed his worried expression.

"Don't say that, Fi! Y-you have to live! I need you!" Rhys whisper-shouted, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. "Please..." He mumbled, gently stroking her cheek.

"I'll try to stay, but, uh, I can't make any promises." Fiona whispered, her eyes closing for a moment before shooting open. "C'mere." She whispered, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. Rhys nodded and moved closer to her, his eyebrows furrowing. Fiona frowned slightly and beckoned him with a finger. Rhys obeyed so that their faces were practically touching. The injured woman pressed her lips to the man's lips, her free hand reaching up to gently caress his cheek. "At least my final moments will be with you... I couldn't ask for anything better." She whispered, her eyes blinking closed several times.

"N-no, don't say that. This can't be your final moments!" More tears spilled down Rhys's cheeks as he spoke. He gently slipped his organic arm under her neck and his bionic arm under her knees, slowly trying to pick her up. "We're g-gonna get you some help, Fi! W-we'll go to Helios!" He told her, his eyes widened.

Fiona almost immediately screamed in pain. "Agh, fuck!" Breathing heavily, she pressed her hand even harder against her wounds. "Rhys, it's not worth the trouble! Fuck, put me down!" She shouted, her free arm wrapping around his neck.

"Fi, I have to at least try to get you help! I've already almost lost Sasha, I can't actually lose you! I... I need you, Fi!" Rhys looked her in the eyes, panic and worry in his mismatched eyes.

Struggling to catch her breath, her eyes rolled back. "F-fine. But hurry, I don't want to be in this position for long--this feels absolutely awful!" She replied, her breathing becoming heavier by the moment. Rhys nodded quickly and started running as fast as he could towards Helios.

After a few minutes of running and the only noise filling the air being Fiona's heavy breathing, the woman suddenly mumbled something to the other. "Rhys, please, I'm begging you--I need you to put me down right now!" Rhys could barely even start saying the word "but" before she interrupted him. "Now, please!" He complied and quickly knelt down, placing her gently against the hard ground. Fiona let out a breath that she didn't even realize that she was holding. Her hand reached up to gently stroke his cheek, her eyes slowly closing. "I love you... Don't ever forget that." She whispered, her breathing slowing down.

"No! No no no no no! You can't die, Fi! Y-you're my badass vault hunter girlfriend--you can't die and leave me!" He pleaded, his nearly dried tear stains becoming covered with more tears. "P-please!" He shouted, his eyes widening as he quickly wiped away his tears with his sleeve, only for tears to stream down his cheeks again.

Chuckling softly, Fiona gently wiped away his tears with the pad of her thumb. She removed her hand from her wound and held it out to him. "Sorry, my hand is really gross and bloody, but I want my last memory to be us holding hands." She weakly smiled up at him.

Rhys almost immediately grabbed her hand with his organic hand, bringing it up to his lips. "You can't die..." He whispered against her blood-covered hand.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered, her eyes opening for a moment before slowly closing. Her grip on his hand slowly loosened, indicating that she was losing consciousness.

"No! Please no!" He half-shouted, his cybernetic hand flying to apply pressure to her injuries. He would do anything if it meant that she would survive. After a moment of attempting to save her with his free hand, he brought his bloody hand to her neck, his breath catching in his throat when he realized that she was no longer breathing. He slowly laid down next to her lifeless body, resting his head against her shoulder. "I should've saved you..." He whispered, his tears streaming quickly down his cheeks and staining her jacket. "I'm so sorry." He mumbled.

When Sasha and Vaughn found Rhys and Fiona, they found him half-asleep next to her, several tear stains against his cheek. He was mumbling "I'm sorry" over and over again, almost as if it had been him who had killed her and he was feeling nothing but remorse. Sasha of course shed tears, but she was more worried about Rhys being okay--both Sasha and Vaughn noted that he most likely wasn't emotionally stable, so they decided to leave him alone. They had both decided to sit near Rhys and Fiona's lifeless body, waiting for him to be ready to leave.

Rhys would never be happy again.


	2. Alternate Ending #1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Fiona survives and is patched up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my wattpad (@dreaminqs) and my tumblr (@rhysandfiona) for more like this + for requests!

Rhys almost immediately grabbed her hand with his organic hand, bringing it up to his lips. "You can't die..." He whispered against her blood-covered hand.

Fiona chuckled softly in response, her eyes slowly closing. Rhys's eyes almost immediately widened, panic resonating deep within his soul. Before he got the chance to say anything, Fiona spoke up. "I'm still here by the way, the light just kinda hurts my eyes," Fiona whispered, her eyebrows furrowing. Rhys's mismatched orbs lit up in relief. "If Sash and Vaughn are gonna get here anytime soon, that'd be great," she mumbled with a soft chuckle, resulting in her wincing in pain. 

"They... They should be here soon. I hope," Rhys mumbled softly, gently stroking her cheek with his cybernetic hand. 

"Good. This is excruciatingly painful. Let me tell ya, getting shot repeatedly is not fun at all. I wouldn't recommend it," Fiona smiled weakly, her eyes opening and squinting slightly. "What a nice day to die, eh? It's unusually pretty today..." She mumbled, a tired look in her eyes. 

Rhys gently squeezed her bloody hand with his fleshy hand before speaking. "N-no, Fi, you're not gonna die! Not today!" He whispered to her. 

"Ugh, I'm starting to think that you're right..." Fiona let out a soft sigh. "C'mere," She whispered gently. Rhys obeyed, moving his face so that it was inches away from hers. Fiona stared at him for a moment, her eyes never focusing on one part of his face for too long. Finally, she smiled softly and pressed her lips gently to his. She eventually wiggled her bloody hand away from his grasp, gently placing it on his cheek.

They stayed in that position for a while, their lips pressed together and both of them with a hand on each other's face. They pulled away frequently to catch their breath, but they continued kissing. They were still kissing each other when Sasha came running wildly over, Vaughn following close behind her. Sasha slid onto the ground next to Fiona just moments after Rhys and Fiona pulled away.

"Fi, oh my god, are you okay?" Sasha asked, panic and fear in her eyes. Fiona moved her body experimentally, quickly wincing in pain before shaking her head. Sasha quickly looked up at Vaughn, her eyes wide. "We need to bring her to Helios, like, right now!"

Vaughn nodded and quickly slipped an arm underneath Fiona's neck and an arm underneath her knees, carefully lifting her up off of the ground. Fiona winced in pain before glancing over at Rhys with a tired look in her eyes. "You kinda have a bit of my blood on your face... Sorry, Rhys." Rhys's hand quickly flew up to his face, his eyes widening when he realized that he had blood covering his cheek. Fiona chuckled lightly before glancing up at Vaughn. "Take me away, Glasses Face."

"As you wish, Hat Lady," Vaughn chuckled lightly before quickly sprinting off towards Helios.

Sasha stared off into the distance before bursting out screaming. "Oh my god!" Sasha wailed before turning her head to look at Rhys. "Rhys, oh my god!"

Rhys frowned and awkwardly patted Sasha's back. "It's gonna be okay, Sash. Sh-she's gonna be okay, I just know it." He tried to flash her a reassuring grin.

"I know that! It's just... I've never seen her hurt so badly before. I'm just worried that she's gonna freak out about it or whatever!"

"Oh. Yeah, okay," Rhys awkwardly grinned.

Sasha slowly stood up and brushed the dirt off of her knees. "We should go back to Helios. Hopefully they'll patch her up quickly," She mumbled sadly. Sasha glanced over at Rhys for a moment before slowly walking off towards Helios. 

"Right. Hopefully..." Rhys let out a soft sigh before slowly making his way toward Helios.

*~*~*

A couple of days after Fiona had been shot, Rhys finally had the time to visit her. He had a bouquet of pink and blue flowers held in his cybernetic hand, a nervous grin on his face. When he entered the infirmary waiting room, the first thing he noticed was Sasha staring into the window to Fiona's room, her arms crossed over her chest. Rhys slowly walked over to Sasha, gently poking her shoulder with his fleshy hand

Sasha quickly turned around, her eyes wide. "Rhys! Hey! You're here to see Fiona?" She raised an eyebrow slightly as she spoke.

Rhys awkwardly nodded his head, his eyes wandering towards Fiona's sleeping face. "Yeah, is she okay?" Rhys looked back at Sasha, both eyebrows raised. 

Sasha nodded as she glanced at Fiona for a moment. "Yeah, she's doing a lot better. You'll have to be really quiet, she needs as much sleep as she can get, y'know?" She smiled ever so slightly as she spoke. 

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense." Rhys squeezed the flowers in his metal hand gently as he made his way towards the door to Fiona's room. "Thanks for patching her up so quickly, by the way." He grinned widely as he looked back to Sasha.

"Don't thank me, thank Vaughn," Sasha hummed as Rhys slowly entered Fiona's room, nodding in response to her words.

When Rhys entered the bland room, he glanced around, his eyebrows raising upon seeing the flowers on the table next to his girlfriend of a year and a half. He slowly made his way towards her bed, quickly and quietly pulling a chair next to Fiona before gently plopping down in the chair. Rhys gently placed the bouquet of flowers onto the table next to Fiona before gently reaching for the hand that was closest to her. Because Rhys had been so focused on not making any noise to wake Fiona, he didn't notice that she had turned her head towards him and grinned as she opened her eyes.

"I'm not actually asleep, by the way. I just pretended to fall asleep so Sasha wouldn't be hovering over me and constantly asking me if i need anything," Fiona mumbled, a peaceful look in her eyes. 

Rhys's eyes widened slightly as he quickly sat up completely straight. "Oh! Hey! Hi! How are you?" He asked nervously. He had no idea why he was nervous. He thought that it was probably because he hadn't seen her for a couple of days and the last time he had seen her was not exactly pleasant.

"Hey, hi yourself," Fiona teased, earning an embarrassed blush from Rhys. "I'm fantastic, by the way. The pain is a whole lot easier to deal with. I feel way less tired and weak than I did when Vaughn first brought me in. I missed you, by the way. I wish you could've been with me when they were first patching me up," She whispered, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"I missed you, too, hon. I really wanted to visit you, but I was just so busy, y'know?" Rhys raised an eyebrow slightly as he spoke. Fiona nodded at his words. Rhys noted that there was a slight blush growing on Fiona's cheeks, probably due to the nickname that he had only recently started using for her. Rhys gently grabbed the flowers off of the table next to Fiona and nervously handed them to her, a soft blush growing on his cheeks. He had no idea why, but he felt like an awkward teenager confessing to his crush. 

Fiona gently took the flowers from Rhys, a soft chuckle bubbling out of her throat. "Thanks, Rhys. They're beautiful..." She trailed off as she held the flowers close to her chest, a wide grin on her lips.

"They're not as beautiful as you, though," Rhys whispered, a cheesy grin finding it's way to his lips. 

Fiona snorted and lightly shoved Rhys's chest. "Oh, shut up, you dweeb!" She rolled her eyes and stared at the flowers for a moment. "Seriously though. Thank you for these," Fiona whispered.

"Don't thank me, Fi. It's the least I could do to make up for not having visited yet," Rhys grinned widely at Fiona before leaning over and gently pecking her cheek softly. 

"Whatever you say, Rhys." Fiona pursed her lips slightly before adjusting her position so that she could look at Rhys without hurting her neck. "Anyways. Enough about me. Tell me about what's been going on with you." She rested her elbows against the armrest of the bed, her head coming to rest in her hands.

Rhys awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, trying to find the right words to say to Fiona. "Um... Not much has been happening, I guess. I mean, at least not with Atlas. Just the same old stuff, y'know?"

Fiona nodded slowly before speaking. "I wanna know what's been goin' on at home? Like, how's Gortys?" She asked, her scarred eyebrow raised slightly.

Rhys's eyes widened slightly. "Oh. Oh, right!" He pursed his lips as he struggled to figure out how to put everything into words. "Um, Gortys is okay. She misses you a lot, actually. She keeps asking when you'll come home," Rhys chuckled softly before continuing, "It's been pretty lonely without you, hon." A sad look in his eyes, he gently grabbed her forearm with his metal hand and gently rubbed her skin with his metallic thumb, staring down at his hand. "I hope you can come home soon..." He mumbled as he looked back up at Fiona, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Frowning, Fiona leaned forward slightly to press her lips gently to his forehead. "Y'know, I think I'm coming home today, actually." She smirked slightly as Rhys's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, really?" Fiona nodded in response. "Holy shit! That's amazing!" Rhys exclaimed as he wrapped his arms tightly around Fiona. A  chuckle bubbled past Fiona's throat. She thought it was a absolutely adorable how he was so excited to know that they'd be able to be at home together that day. 

Just as they were hugging it out, Vaughn walked into the room, awkwardly waving at the pair. Rhys quickly pulled away from Fiona nervously and Fiona settled back into the bed. "The, uh, the doctors said you could go home whenever," Vaughn grinned at the pair for a moment, "I thought you'd like to know." He awkwardly waved at the pair before quietly exiting the room. 

Rhys turned to Fiona, his eyes widened in excitement! "Oh my god! You can come home now!"

"It's about time, eh?" Fiona asked while chuckling as she slowly stood up. She stretched her arms out and winced in pain slightly. She brought a hand down to where she had been shot, gently applying pressure to the area. "Still hurts a little," She whispered. Fiona slowly walked over to the corner of the room where her clothes had been neatly folded, no doubt that Sasha had been the one to bring Fiona's clothes in. "I'm gonna go get changed real quick." Fiona grabbed her clothes and made her way to the small bathroom attached to the room, gently closing the door behind her. 

Rhys slowly stood up, an excited grin on his face. He swayed back and forth on his heels excitedly. She's finally coming home today! he thought. He glanced around the room for a moment before walking over to the bathroom and gently knocking on the door. "Hey, do you have a bag that I can pack up your stuff in? If you even want to take any of it, that is."

"Um..." Fiona trailed off for a moment, most likely trying to think about whether or not she had a bag in her room. "Uh, yeah, I think there should be a bag over by where I grabbed my clothes. Thanks for packing all my shit up, by the way," She hummed happily as she spoke.

"It's no problem, Fi. I enjoy helping you," Rhys said with a grin. Fiona chuckled softly from the bathroom, mumbling something that sounded like "dweeb" under her breath. Rhys grabbed the bag that Fiona had told him about, nodding slightly upon noticing the size of it. It was pretty large and it looked like it could fit all of Fiona's stuff--and probably even more, if he packed everything really tight together. Rhys soon began stuffing all of Fiona's gifts into the bags, trying to work quickly so he and Fiona could go home as soon as possible.

Just a minute later, Fiona exited the bathroom in her pajamas and slippers--luckily, Sasha had given her sweatpants and a t-shirt instead of her usual short shorts and one of Rhys's shirts. She quickly brushed her hair out of her face before crossing her arms over her chest. "Ya ready to go?" She asked, her scarred eyebrow raised slightly.

Rhys turned to face her and nodded quickly. "Yep, all ready to go!" He exclaimed, slipping the bag over his shoulder. Fiona nodded and started to say something, before Rhys interrupted her, saying, "Wait. Hold on. Before we go, we need to have a proper hug." Fiona chuckled softly and nodded, taking a step closer to Rhys. He quickly wrapped his arms around her, giving her a gentle squeeze as he rested his chin on the top of her head. Fiona wrapped her arms tightly around Rhys's waist and buried her face into her chest, breathing in his familiar peppermint-and-vanilla scent. "I missed you so freaking much," He whispered. 

"I missed you so freaking much, too," Fiona whispered. She pulled her head away slightly to look Rhys in the eyes. She smiled up at him before whispering,

"I love you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys had a terrible nightmare about Fiona dying and Fiona assures him that everything will be okay.

Rhys woke up from his nightmare, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. He sat up quickly, his mismatched orbs wide in fear. Glancing over at the sleeping form next to him, he let out a sigh of relief. It was just a nightmare, Rhys thought. None of it was real. He ran his silver hand through his hair, another sigh escaping his lips. Slowly standing up, Rhys thought that he should probably make some tea or something to calm himself down. It always worked with his other awful nightmares, so it had to work now. Rhys tiredly exited the bedroom he shared with his girlfriend of a year and a half, making sure to be as quiet as he possibly could. He slowly made his way to the kitchen and grabbed a mug and some packets of tea, tiredly starting on making the warm and soothing drink. He couldn't believe what had happened in his dream. It all felt so... real. It was almost as if he had actually witnessed his girlfriend breathe her last breath. It was almost as if he had seen and felt the blood on her stomach and hand. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He just had to remind himself that it was just a very vivid and realistic dream. Nothing more than a nightmare.

Rhys had tons of nightmares that occurred almost nightly. They were all the same--Handsome freaking Jack still being in his systems and taking complete control of him. The nightmares had different endings, though. The only real difference between the dreams was who Jack made him kill. In every single one of his nightmares, Jack forced Rhys to strangle someone who he cared about and he couldn't do anything to prevent it from happening. Every nightmare he had haunted him. Especially the nightmare he had just had.

As soon as his tea finished cooling down, he took a small sip. A soft sigh escaped his lips at the soothing warmth that still was in the drink. Because Rhys had been so focused on making his tea and not having a panic attack over his nightmare, he didn't notice Fiona walking quietly into the kitchen and stopping right behind him. Her wrapping her arms around his waist and burying the side of her face into his back startled him, almost making him jump three feet up into the air.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Fiona whispered gently. Rhys could vaguely feel her jaw moving as she spoke.

Rhys slowly nodded, setting his mug gently down on the counter before placing his arms on the cool tile and leaning over the counter. "Yeah... This one was pretty awful," he mumbled, turning his head slightly so he could see Fiona a little bit. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

Fiona shook her head in response to the question. "No, it's no big deal. I wasn't very tired anyway, so I don't really mind." Pursing her lips slightly for a moment, she pulled away from him, only to grab his organic wrist and pull him over to the couch. She plopped down on the padded seat, gently pulling Rhys to sit down next to her. He almost immediately rested his head on her shoulder, wrapping the arm that was closest to her, which happened to be his cybernetic arm, around her waist. "Tell me about your dream," Fiona whispered as she reached down and gently placed her hand on Rhys's. 

Rhys slowly shook his head. "No, it was... It was awful. Worse than all the other ones. I don't want you to freak out or worr-"

"Rhys, I get that you don't want me to stress out or whatever about this, but you need to tell me about what happened. It's always helped you feel better when you tell me about them, right?" Rhys nodded slowly in response. Fiona gently squeezed his hand before continuing to speak. "Exactly. It's not gonna help if you don't tell me what happened in your dream. And, if you want, you can just tell me the basic details of it." She looked down at her boyfriend, flashing him a reassuring grin. 

Rhys let out a soft sigh as he struggled to come up with the words to use. "Okay, um... In this particular nightmare, Jack wasn't in it at all." Fiona raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise. "Yeah, it was weird. Anyways, in the nightmare, you got shot by a bunch of bandits. A-and you were bleeding out... And... And... Shit." Rhys buried his face into Fiona's shoulder, his eyes swelling with tears. 

Fiona reached over and gently stroked his hair, pressing a gentle kiss to his temple. "Shh, shh, shh. It's okay, hon. It was just a nightmare," She whispered. She quickly moved her position so her legs were draped over Rhys's lap. 

Rhys's grip tightened on her waist as he struggled to regain his composure. "Shit, I know, I-I'm sorry. I just... It just felt so real! I thought you actually died and... God, it was the worst." He struggled to catch his breath as he sobbed into Fiona's shoulder.

Fiona pressed gentle kisses to Rhys's hairline, bringing her hands down to his back and rubbing gentle circles into his skin. "I know, baby. I know, it definitely sounds like it was the worst. But it's all good. I'm not gonna be dyin' anytime soon, sweetie. I promise," She whispered into his hair.

Rhys gripped Fiona's shirt tightly, taking a shaky breath before speaking. "Thanks, Fi. I... I'm glad to have you," He whispered, pulling away slightly to smile up at Fiona.

Fiona grinned at him, pressing a quick kiss to Rhys's lips. "I'm glad to have you, too, hon." Rhys blushed slightly at her words. "Seriously. You've made me feel so much happier. If it weren't for you, I'd still be a sad and lonely con-artist," She whispered, gently stroking his cheek as she spoke. 

Rhys couldn't help but smile at that. It felt pretty great to know that he changed Fiona's life for the better. "If it weren't for you, I... Jeez,  
I don't even know where I'd be... I sure as hell wouldn't feel as loved as I do now!" He chuckled softly, Fiona beginning to chuckle soon after him. 

"I'm guessing you're feeling a bit better?" Fiona asked gently, her scarred eyebrow raising slightly. Rhys nodded slowly. "Good. What say you and I head back to bed?"

"Yeah... Yeah, that sounds pretty good." Fiona nodded in response and quickly stood up. "I'm gonna put my tea in the fridge first. I'll catch up with you," Rhys mumbled, slowly standing up and tiredly making his way towards the kitchen. Fiona nodded and saluted him with two fingers, quickly walking back to their bedroom.

After putting his (now cold) tea in the fridge, Rhys walked to the bedroom, gently shutting the door behind him. He quickly crawled under the covers, tucking his head underneath Fiona's chin and burying his face into her chest. "Sleep well, 'kay?" Fiona asked, as she looked down at him slightly. 

Rhys looked up at Fiona for a moment, pecking her lips gently. "Of course," He whispered.

They both fell asleep soon. Rhys slept amazingly and was, surprisingly, happy as he slept.


End file.
